Love Regales
by Kat Lee formerly Pirate Turner
Summary: Eliot's blinded. Het.


Title: "Love Regales"  
Author: Pirate Turner  
Rating: PG  
Summary: Eliot's blinded.  
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, names, codenames, places, items, fandoms, titles, and etc. are always © & TM their respective owners, not the author, and are used without permission. Any and all original characters and everything else is © & TM the author and may not be reproduced in any way without the author's express, written permission. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.  
Author's Note: 244. That's the number of stories that were sitting on my hard drive collecting dust because I lack the energy and time to take care of them as I once did. My betaing pattern has always been to write, then type up if written on paper, the story, read it aloud to my beloved Jack and our children, editing as I go, and then finally format and post. Sadly, this part is simply taking too much of my time and energy, and my beloved Jack and I have too little time together in person these days to be able to keep up with my stories. So what to do? Give up writing? I actually considered it for a while, tried to make excuses to myself other than the large number of stories collecting cyber dust on my computer, as to why I lacked the energy and Muse to write new tales. And then, with the turn of the new year, I decided to stop running and face the problem. The problem is, quite frankly, that once one gets so bogged down in formatting and editing that writing is no longer a pleasure but the actual posting of those writings becomes a hassle and - egad! - work, it's time to cut something out, and that will never be the writing process. So, in short, yes, there will be mistakes in this tale. Yes, it's missing about half of the header information I usually include. But I wrote it for pleasure and am posting it in hopes of sharing that pleasure with others. Do with it as you will.

He couldn't see. Fear choked him, but he fought it down as he always had. His eyes may have been taken - the sword of his last opponent having sliced right through them -, but that bastard was dead on the floor now and Eliot himself was far from being out of the game. He didn't need his eyes to fight or to survive, only to see.

He listened, but no sound of hurrying footsteps, guns being cocked, or swords swiping through the air came. A strong, salty smell assailed his nose. Eliot turned in its direction and sensed Sophie hovering just nearby. He could feel her wide eyes upon him and pictured her standing there with her mouth agape, her hands covering her mouth, and her eyes full of fear. "Are you hurt?" he asked.

"N-No." Her voice shook as she answered him, and in that moment, Eliot realized that her fear wasn't for herself or even for their situation. Help was coming, and he'd almost gotten them out already before he'd been stabbed from his blind side while dispatching another of the sword-wielding would-be ninja's clan. No, Sophie knew they'd get out, but she was still afraid. She was afraid for him.

He let her reach out to him while his heart warred between being angry that she doubted his survival capabilities - he didn't need his eyes, he told himself yet again - and being touched that Sophie Deveraux was actually more concerned for him in that moment than she was anything else. Her hands trembled as she touched his handsome face; her fingers wiped away some of the blood that still poured from his slashed eyes. Her touch was the gentlest thing he'd ever felt, and it sent shivers racing through him.

Despite his knowledge that her fear was for him, his gesture was still strongly protective as he pulled her against his side. "Y-You'll be okay," she was trying to reassure them both when he sensed a change in the air around them. Pushing her behind him, he stepped forward, ducked the swipe of legs he heard kicking through the air, and shoved both of his fists directly between those flying legs.

The other man fell to the floor with a cry, but before Eliot could do anything further, the sound of three big guns being cocked reverberated through the still, thick air in the hallway. Eliot paused, listening and secretly wishing he could see. Hardison was there, and Nate, too. He could smell the former's orange soda and the latter's whiskey. Eliot grinned a split second before Nate spoke.

"You're right, Sophie. Eliot will be okay, and we're leaving now with the both of you."

One of their opponents must have moved, because Hardison snapped next, "Come on, punk, make my day."

Eliot's grin grew. He hadn't known the geek had it in him. Then Sophie's hands were on him again, her arms wrapping around him as she led him toward their team. He heard the air move slightly behind them and sensed that it was Parker's lithe body trailing behind them. She kept her back to him as they walked out between Nate and Hardison, the gun Nate had given her at the ready and her finger itching, as were the other's, to pull the trigger and blast away any of these goons who had hurt their friend.

It took months and the work of the best doctors, but finally, Eliot could see again. The first thing he saw was the beautiful woman who hadn't left his side since the night he'd been hurt rescuing her. He smiled at her, ignoring the tears in both their eyes as he pulled her to him. "Let's do Bangladesh again sometime."

She laughed, but there was nervousness and pain in her chuckle. It had been such a long, trying time, and until his eyes had met hers, and Sophie had known that he was truly seeing her for the first time in months, she had feared he would never see again. Yet, she had never spoken of that fear. She had told him all along that he would be okay, and Eliot thanked her for that promise come true and silenced all her other emotions with a kiss that seared them both straight to their very souls and left only love regaling.

**The End**


End file.
